The Nuggets have inquired about acquiring Los Angeles Clippers guard Sam Cassell, though trade talks have not intensified, a team source said.

The Nuggets have a sturdy starting backcourt in all-star Allen Iverson and Anthony Carter, who is playing the best basketball of his career. But with reserve Chucky Atkins (sports hernia surgery) out until at least mid-March, and reserve J.R. Smith playing inconsistently, Denver would like to have insurance down the stretch.

Carter, at 32, is playing the most minutes of his career.

Cassell, who played for coach George Karl in Milwaukee, averages 13.3 points per game in 26.2 minutes for the struggling Clippers.

Cassell’s agent, David Falk, cited the reported ultimatum by Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who said he wants his team to make vast improvement this season or else the coach and general manager could lose their jobs.

“Obviously, Denver needs a point guard,” Falk said. “But for right now (with Cassell in Los Angeles), everything is status quo.”

Anthony to play. Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony is determined to play Saturday against Charlotte. The all-star has been sidelined for five games with a left ankle injury.

On Friday, Anthony participated in a press event with George Vlosich, whose rare talent is creating art work on an Etch-A-Sketch. Vlosich spent a combined 25 hours on an Anthony portrait, presenting a framed photo of the artwork to the forward. A video recorded the creation of the Etch-A-Sketch artwork, sped up of course, which can be viewed on Key Bank’s web site: www.key.com/keyclub. Fans at tonight’s Nuggets game will receive a magnet with the artwork, courtesy of Key Bank.

As for his own Etch-A-Sketch abilities, Anthony smiled and said: “I can’t even make a square.”

Benjamin Hochman was a sports columnist for The Denver Post until August 2015 before leaving for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, his hometown newspaper. Hochman previously worked for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for its Hurricane Katrina coverage. Hochman wrote the Katrina-themed book “Fourth and New Orleans,” published in 2007.

Spain came under repeated attack starting Thursday in what authorities called linked terrorist incidents, when a driver swerved a van into crowds in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district, killing more than a dozen people and injuring scores of others. Early Friday, an attempted attack unfolded in a town down the coast

If there’s one superhero character whose rise might be most tied to the events of World War II, it is Captain America, who emerged from the minds of legends Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and sprung forth from an iconic 1941 debut cover on which Cap smacks Hitler right in the kisser.

A customer dining at Washington’s Oceanaire restaurant noticed an unusual line at the bottom of his receipt: “Due to the rising costs of doing business in this location, including costs associated with higher minimum wage rates, a 3% surcharge has been added to your total bill.”